Lucky 13

Whew! Woke up this morning with thirteen people in the house! Oh, it makes a grandma's heart so happy to have family together.

My lucky thirteen were:
1-2: Mark and me
3-6: Holly, David, Arora, and Ender (I can't remember if I've written about this in a post, but they have moved in with us for a while. I feel so very lucky to have a son and his darling wife, and two adorable children here with us.)
7-8: Mike and Maddy (They are here so that Maddy can visit with Josh, Sarah, and Kat, her siblings who live nearby. We've had such a fun week for these siblings who live on opposite coasts to spend some good times together!)
9-13: Polly, Eric, Katie, Seth, and Becca (They drove to Oregon City yesterday. This was a true sacrifice for them, as Eric just started his second year of teaching chemistry on Thursday. But they came anyway because they love their sister Maleena soooo much, and today was the day the Max and Maleena blessed their baby, Hunter, at church.)

To celebrate my lucky thirteen morning, here are 13 photos of some fun we've been having together.

David got up early this morning and made homemade waffles for all thirteen of us. What a champ! Holly, of course, was his assistant. Thank you David and Holly! The waffles were delicious, and all thirteen of us made it to church on time at 9:00 am. Wow!

Who can resist this smiley guy! Ender is such a character. His mother has nicknamed him "Trouble" - for his speed crawl straight toward whatever his parents don't want him getting in to. He turned one this month, and he is starting to walk! It is so fun to watch him taking 5 or 6 steps at a time.

I was in heaven today in the church nursery. These two sweet granddaughters, who are almost exactly the same age, but live on opposite coasts and rarely get to see each other, were there to play and have fun with Grandma. We had SO much fun together!

Becca and Maddy, playing with puzzles in the church nursery. I just couldn't get enough of them. I love two year olds!

Max, Maleena, and Hunter, after his blessing. He was such a sweet baby - not a peep out of him during the blessing, and he was happy and wide awake during the family party afterwards. Maleena and Max are doing a wonderful job raising him, and it was a joy to spend time with their family today.

Family outing at the zoo on Thursday. Kat, Sarah, Arora on the elephant. Then there's me, Mark, and Josh with Maddy. The children have been having a wonderful time together.

Maddy feeding two lorikeets at the zoo. What a gift to have time with these gentle birds. The kids were getting tired, and the lorikeets were the last exhibit we stopped to see. It was a perfect way to end the day--made some special memories with the kids.

Sarah and Josh feeding lorikeets (Grandpa Mark in the background).

Random times at home...Maddy helping me pick cherry tomatoes out in the garden...

...Arora pushing Maddy in one of the swings...

...Sarah and Josh teaching Maddy how to play "Hit the Deck"...

Here's one more photo from today. My handsome hunk with little Hunter. How I love Mark! I am so grateful to be married to this good, kind, hardworking man. He is a gifted grandpa. He always soothes the babies to sleep. I tease him that it's because he's boring, but that's just a little joke, you know...

And the last shot of the day...grandkids on the lawn after the baby blessing. A barrel of monkeys, as usual! Ender (escaping), Arora, Becca, Katie with Hunter, and Maddy. Seth was a little out of sorts and chose to skip the photo op.

Oh, happy Grandma day! I am a lucky, lucky Grandma!!